The Osceola times., 1887-01-15

4 When one reads of the great number
<of people who come to their deaths each
Sear In India from serpents and wild
animals and crocodiles, the figures can
hardly be credited by one who has not
*visted that country. India Is the par
adise of all that is savage, revengeful,
8venemous and sly, beginning with the
4 thug and ending with the flea. The
climate and topography of the country
n favor the wild beast more than man.
s. il is the natural home of every species
n of reptile of many species of car
n nivora-of almost every poisonous in
4 sect which can be named. The offer OF
4 large rewards for the killing of poison
Gus serpents has taken tens Of thous-
\ ands of dollars from the Golfers of the
Government without decreasing the
number of snake bites by one. The
tiger, leopard, jaguar, panther and
other fierce creatures have been thinncd
of by the natural settling of the various
provinces, but one has only to 90 few
miles from the railroad lines to find
them to-day as they were found twenty
years ago. 1t win forever be a combat
between man and beast in that country,
with the odds in favor of the beast.
In making my way from Penjab to
Lahore, in the days before the railroad,
having the company of two American
sportsmen and British officer, ] was
bitten on the check by some poisonous
insect which dashed at me as we were
riding in the shade. II struck me like
flash, and was off before could raise
my hand. Being new to the country !
supposed il to be some insect common
TO the weeds, but it was scarcely three
minutes before began TO suffer great
pain, and in FIVE ] had TO dismount.
The natives were agreed that the bite
came from jungle hornet, and that l
would be a sufferer for some days.
Fortunately for me, we were close TO
the outskirts of a village called Halla-
rad and when | could no longer stand
on my feet, which was about seven
minutes after being bitten, l was car
ried into the village and a native doc
tor set TO work on me. | was then
raying with pain, and my face was
swelled until ! could not see. It was
four days before the pain left me, and
ton before I had recovered sufficient
strength to ride. In this interval
occurred the adventure / set out to re-
lato.
On the fifth or sixth day after my
misfortune, hammock was slung for
me out doors under tree, and native
sat at its roots TO administer TO my
wants. He held the end of my ham
mock cord in his hand, and once in q
while gave it pull and kept me slowly
swinging. The village was a scatter
ing one, containing about 200 natives,
and from my elevated position had a
pretty good view around me. There
was a Jungle about forty rods away,
while the ground between was covered
with rank grass and weeds at least
knee high. In front of the hut to the
left Of my tree sat a young woman who
was making some repairs on garment
belonging to her father. On this morn
ing most of the men in the village had
gone off on hunt, and every thing
was as quiet as Sunday morning in a
New England hamlet.
The balmy air and tho motion of the
hammock would have induced sleep
had l not slept thirteen hours ont OF the
Il preceding twenty-four. was quiet,
but wakeful. In the course of half an
hour the hammock ceased to move,
1 and i saw that the servant below was
fast asleep. Almost at the same mo-
ment caught flash of something at
the edge Of the Jungle, and then no.
I tioed movement of the grass Twas
sportsman enough to comprehend that
4 some animal or reptile was moving to-
ward me. but had no enthusiasm
even common curiosity. / traced the
q progress of the unknown creature by
B the motion Of the grass, but did not
= speculate as to what it was. The coun-
& try is overrun with hares, field rats and
4 other small and harmless animals, and
y the fact that something was moving in
s the grass would not have been consid-
\ cred by the natives as worth investigat-
y ing. Twas looking at the gronnd, but
thinking of matters in America, when
! suddenly caught sight of the head of
monstrous serpent raised above the
& grass The head was steady for few
4 minntes, and then moved slowly from
! right to left and back like the pendu-
3 lum of clock. AT this time the reptile
! was about hundred feet away, and
\ right at the edge of the tall grass. Be-
tween me and Tim the ground was bare,
the grass having been killed out by the
fset Of the villagers.
! suppose that there was still srdii-
clent poison In my system to deaden
my sensibilities 10 q certain extent
felt no fear of the serpent. nor did I
wish for my gun to give him a shot !
had no fears of the woman seated With
her back to the grass, nor for the native
fast asleep below me. This COM
placsncy an my part is to be accounted